August 16, 2022 Smashing Newsletter: Issue #366
This newsletter issue was sent out to 208,615 subscribers on Tuesday, August 16, 2022.
Editorial
Producing great work requires enthusiasm. We need to feel valued and motivated, and we need to feel that we are contributing to something impactful, something that’s larger than a sum of individual pieces. This requires a great company culture, fair and transparent compensation, and a team that is inclusive, respectful and kind.
In this issue, we look into some of these things that help us grow and stay motivated in our career. We’ll dive into job interviews and salary negotiations and the company culture that makes it all worth it.
Ah, and we sincerely hope to meet you in person at SmashingConf Freiburg and New York City in just a few weeks. Have a peaceful and less stressful week, everyone!
— Vitaly (@vitalyf)
1. Behind The Scences of Tech Companies
What’s going on behind a company’s closed doors? How do employees feel about their company’s culture and management? Blind offers a safe space where professionals can communicate anonymously with co-workers and colleagues from the industry. About layoffs and job openings, issues with HR, raises and bonuses, and company culture — without the fear of reprisals.
The mission behind Blind is to break down professional barriers towards more transparency, empowering informed decisions and inspiring positive change in the workplace. More than 5 million verified professionals openly share what’s going on in companies, and the experiences they had. To join, you need to sign up with your work email. Blind promises that all email addresses are hashed, salted, and then encrypted to guarantee anonymity.
If you plan to apply for a job, Glassdoor offers a valuable behind the scenes look at different companies. The site lets you search for company reviews, job openings, salary information, and interview questions. Great resources to do your due diligence before that job interview.(cm)
2. Prepare For Your Next Job Interview
What are you looking for in your next job? Please tell me about some of your strengths. Tell me about a time you made a mistake. How did you communicate this mistake? Job interview questions like these probably make most of us quite nervous. To help you get more confident and comfortable with the interview process, Grow with Google released Interview Warmup, a judgment-free zone where you can practice key interview questions.
While Interview Warmup is aimed at professionals of all backgrounds, Yangshun Tay created a resource aimed specifically at front-end engineers. The Front End Interview Handbook covers everything you need to know for your next front-end interview: trivia-style questions, various types of coding questions, system design questions, as well as tips for behavioral interviews, and, last but not least, real interview questions from tech companies such as Google, Amazon, and Microsoft.
Emma Bostian’s eBook De-Coding the Technical Interview Process is also jam-packed with practical tips and resources for nailing your next technical interview. (cm)
3. Ask-Me-Anything With Yiying Lu
We love sharing personal experiences here at Smashing, and we were happy to invite Yiying Lu to join us live tomorrow, August 17, 8–9 am PT (check your timezone). Yiying will share her stories and experiences working with teams worldwide to get the most out of every situation.
One full hour with the one-and-only Yiying Lu. Register here.
Also, in early September we run our SmashingConf Freiburg, with some wonderful speakers coming to our lovely hometown in Freiburg. And in October, we have our SmashingConf NYC in the Big Apple. We can’t wait to see you there!
4. The Soft Parts of Software Engineering
Becoming a good engineer is about collecting experience to shape your skills. Not just the hard skills but also the soft skills. Looking back at his first ten years on Google Chrome, Addy Osmani decided to share some of the software engineering soft skills he has learned during that time. And, well, the collection is a treasure chest of wisdom that is bound to prove useful in your career, too.
Addy dives deep into everything from learning new things and dealing with technical complexity to communication, mentoring, effective teams, and work-life balance. It’s a good reminder that mastery has to be cultivated over time and that each project, as small as it might be, contributes to growing your skills and yourself. (cm)
5. Job Interview Questions To Ask
Candidates at job interviews usually don’t ask the really important questions. James Hawkins, CEO and co-founder at PostHog, suggests to change that. According to him, candidates who don’t ask harder questions about the company will miss out on a chance to de-risk a company’s performance and to increase the chances they’ll like working there.
Does the company have product–market fit? How much runway does the company have? How do they attract and retain strong hires? And what’s the company’s strategy? These are only some of the questions that James collected that might come in handy in your next job interview. The questions are aimed at startup/early-growth software companies, engineers, and interviews with founders, and, well, yes, they are quite direct. However, as James points out, a company that reacts badly to them may not be a good place to work.
Looking for more? Jocelyn Badgley also curates a handy list of things a developer may want to know about a company before they accept an offer. (cm)
6. Upcoming Online Workshops
That’s right! We run online workshops on frontend and design, be it accessibility, performance, navigation, or landing pages. In fact, we have a couple of workshops coming up soon, and we thought that, you know, you might want to join in as well.
As always, here’s an overview of our upcoming workshops:
- Smart Interface Design Patterns UX
9h-video course on interface design with Vitaly Friedman, - Interface Design Patterns UX Training UX
with Vitaly Friedman. Sep 9 – Oct 7. - Designing Better UX With Top Tasks Workflow
with Gerry McGovern. Sept 13–27 - Designing Better Products Masterclass UX
with Stéphanie Walter. Sept 21 – Oct 5 - Architecting Design Systems Workflow
with Nathan Curtis. Oct 6–14 - Optimistic UI Masterclass Dev
with Zell Liew. Oct 6–14 - Designing for Emotion Masterclass UX
with Aarron Walter. Oct 17–18 - Designing The Perfect Web Forms UX
with Vitaly Friedman. Nov 17–18
7. Salary And Negotiation
Negotiating salary can be a challenge. Whether it’s at a job interview or when you want to talk about a raise with your current employer. On his site, Fearless Salary Negotiation, Josh Doody, a professional salary negotiation coach, shares precious tips and templates that help you master salary negotiations and get raises and promotions at work.
Another practical resource comes from Alison Doyle. She collected some of the best answers to salary-related questions that employers may ask you at a job interview. Among them are the obligatory “What are your salary expectations?” but also questions like “Why would you take a job for less money?” or “What are your salary requirements?” By the way, Alison also covers other common interview questions and how to best respond to them.
Do you have a job offer, but you’re unsure about whether to leave your current company or not? For those occasions, Corey Quinn shares some helpful career advice in a Twitter thread that might help you come to a decision. (cm)
That’s All, Folks!
Thank you so much for reading and for your support in helping us keep the web dev and design community strong with our newsletter. See you next time!
This newsletter issue was written and edited by Cosima Mielke (cm), Vitaly Friedman (vf) and Iris Lješnjanin (il).
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